By Ingrid Sparrow, PT

Owning a physical therapy clinic can be like walking on lily pads. Each day you work to maintain that delicate balance of patient and employee needs with those of the business so you do not fall into the pond. Another balance we work to maintain is our resilience and empathy while avoiding compassion fatigue and burnout.

While burnout and compassion fatigue are related, compassion fatigue is often described as the “cost of caring” for others.1 It occurs more often in inexperienced professionals who may not yet have developed the same coping mechanisms as more seasoned coworkers.2 Burnout occurs more broadly across the work setting and work experience spectrum, and is often defined as “a mixture of professional exhaustion, and disillusionment with other people, the organization, or the career, over the long term.”3 Both are characterized by fatigue, increased cynicism, and lack of enjoyment at work.

Get ready because consumer digital health is about to go deeper than your Fitbit. We’re talking DNA deep. In fact, it’s already happening.

By Susan Nowell, PT, DPT

As technology and health care have become increasingly intertwined for physical therapists in the last decade, we’ve gotten better at implementing evaluation, treatment, and education apps into our practice. WebPT recently published a succinct article outlining the “top 10 iPad apps for physical therapists,” which range from digital goniometry to 3D anatomy display tools. See www.webpt.com/blog/post/top-10-ipad-apps-physical-therapists for the complete list. It’s safe to say that we’ve all stepped up to incorporate more real-time technology into practice. But what about our customers?

Educate the public and build the credibility of not just your practice but physical therapists everywhere.

By Sturdy McKee, PT, MPT, CEO*

“Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.” —William James

It is crucial for private practice owners to get the word out in order to help more people. Historically, we have been very passive in this regard, relying largely on physicians and other health care providers to tell people about us and direct patients to us. Advertising directly to consumers was considered arduous and expensive. But that is definitely no longer the case. Odds are that you are holding in your hand, or in your purse or pocket, a tool that has the potential to reach millions of people, virtually anywhere you choose.

Use technology to improve your bottom line while putting your patients first.

By Quinn Worden

You likely started your practice for more professional autonomy, a passion to deliver better care to the communities you wanted to influence, or perhaps financial independence for your family. The value you create is what matters, but it’s up to each of us to define what’s most valuable as a private practice owner.

A step-by-step guide to marketing directly to the public.

By Jarod Carter, PT, DPT, MTC

In today’s competitive physical therapy market, generating patient referrals can be a daunting task. Gone are the days of relying on the local physician for new patients, especially given the emergence of physician- and hospital-owned physical therapy services (POPTS, HOPTS) and large therapy chains.

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